


Descent

by TheBlackSouledFox



Series: SoRiku Week 2018 [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Angst, Friends to Enemies, Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 10:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16931529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackSouledFox/pseuds/TheBlackSouledFox
Summary: SoRiku Week Day 3: RivalryRiku's rivalry with Sora strikes something much darker





	Descent

**Author's Note:**

> So how bout that opening trailer??

He couldn’t remember when it started. When their friendly competitions had become something more. Something that _mattered_. At least to Riku. At some point, everything had become a show of strength, every race, every play fight, everything meant something _more._

At first it’d just been to impress Sora, to make him look up to Riku. But Sora had always, _always_ caught up eventually. Sometimes, he even surpassed Riku. Every time Sora shot him that wide grin, his eyes bright and happy, a pit of bitterness burrowed its way into Riku, seeding its way deeper and deeper. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It had always been him as the leader of their group, with Sora looking up to _him._ The world around them was supposed to change, not _them._

When the darkness swallowed the islands, Riku didn’t hesitate to go with it.

~ 

After searching, and searching, and _searching_ across worlds, he’d found Sora again in Traverse Town. At first he’d been relieved; he’d found Sora, and now all he had to do was find Kairi and they could go back to the way they were. But then he’d introduced his new friends. They’d been separated for less than a day, and Riku and Kairi had already been replaced.

He’d held the Kingdom Key in his hand. _His_ Kingdom Key. It was supposed to be _his._ But Sora had it. The Key that had been entrusted to him chose _Sora._ Disgusted, he’d tossed it back.

He’d tried to be happy for Sora, he’d tried to see the good in his new friends, but that pit of bitterness wormed its way even deeper. When Sora had his back turned, talking to his newfound friends, Riku turned and walked away. Sora had said he’d been looking for him and Kairi, but doubt plagued his mind like a hazy fog.

_What if he’s lying?_

Later, Maleficent had cooed into his ear, her words honey. “You see? It’s just as I told you.” Sora and his new gaggle of friends talked, all of them talking to each other liked they’d been best friends for years. The seed wormed its way deeper. “While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you.”

 _You’ve been replaced._ A dark voiced hissed in his mind. _There’s nothing here for you anymore._

Maleficent leaned down until she was eye-level with him, a hand on his shoulder. “You’re better off without that wretched boy.” _And far better off with us,_ were the words she didn’t need to speak. “Now, think of him no more and come with me. I’ll help you find what you’re looking for…”

He’d follow her. He’d become stronger, no matter what. He’d save Kairi, he’d show Sora how strong he was.

He would not be replaced again.

~

He was so close to Kairi. So close. 

_I only want you to be happy._ Maleficent’s words rang in his ears. He hadn't believed her, but part of him wanted to more than anything. He had to believe that this would all be worth it. 

Everything would be okay again if he could just get to Kairi. If he could just prove how strong he was, the three of them would go back to normal. Sora would go back to looking up to him, Kingdom Key would see how powerful he was, how _worthy._ It had to.

 _You are worthy,_ the dark voice whispered. _Worthier than you could have ever imagined…_

When he’d reached Kairi, all he found was an empty shell.

~

Pinocchio was empty, but still moving, and living. It fascinated Riku. And horrified him. But if he could learn something from this puppet, if it could help Kairi, he’d do anything. Even kidnap it. _He’d_ be the one who saved Kairi. Not Sora.

But of course, _of course_ Sora had shown up, determined to save the day. So Riku had taunted him, dragging Pinocchio away with a final snide remark. 

Maleficent had appeared before him again. “Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all.”

“I don’t care about him. I was just messing with him a little.” A lie. Or… was it? It was getting harder to think past the dark haze that seemed to be haunting his mind. 

“Oh, really? Of course you were.” She smiled at him, her features making her look almost reptilian. “Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey on it.” Without another word, she vanished into a corridor of darkness.

Despite her words of warning, the bitterness welling in Riku roiled, rising like a storm. “Mind your own business,” he snapped at here vanishing form.

~

The moment he’d taken up arms with Sora against the Parasite Cage, the haze had lifted, if only for a moment. For the first time in what felt like months, he felt clear-headed and sharp.

 _I should apologize,_ he thought to himself as he struck at the massive Heartless. _To Sora, and his new friends, and Pinocchio… I haven’t been myself._

The Heartless disappeared in a flash of light, succumbing to his and Sora’s attacks. And like a storm, the haze settled itself back into Riku’s mind. The room began to tremble, threatening to collapse. Pinocchio cried out as he fell through a newly opened hole in the floor; before he could think about it, as though something else were controlling his body, Riku dove in after him.

 _You don't need that boy,_ the dark voice whispered. _All you need to do, is listen to me…_

If listening meant becoming strong, if it meant saving Kairi, he would.

He would do anything.

~

Sora had leveled the Keyblade at him. Riku had made one last attempt to reconcile with Sora. And he’d leveled the Kingdom Key at him. _Riku’s_ Kingdom Key.

“You’d fight me?” He tried to hide the hurt in his voice. The pain. “Over a puppet that has no heart?”

“Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience!”

“Conscience?” Could Sora not see that Riku was trying to _save_ both him and Kairi? That what he was doing was for the better of them all?

The haze encircling his mind deepened, his bitterness swallowing him. Sora had changed, and a line had been drawn.

“You might not hear it,” Sora pointed the keyblade at him. “But right now it’s loud and clear. And it’s telling me you’re on the wrong side!”

 _It doesn’t matter,_ the voice cooed. _You’ll make him see. You are right._ Riku nodded to himself. He’d show Sora who was wrong. They’d see who standing on the wrong side of the line… and it wouldn’t be Riku. 

_You. Are. Strong._

~

All Sora would talk about were his precious Donald and Goofy. They’d effectively captured him, and all he cared about were his new best friends.

Did he even care about Kairi?

“Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?” Sora pleaded, his eyes a mix of anger and desperation. 

Riku grinned at him. “The Heartless obey me now, Sora. I have nothing to fear.” _They’d never listen to someone with a heart as weak as yours._

Sora had the gall to glare at him. “You’re stupid! Sooner or later, they’ll swallow your heart!”

“Not a chance, my heart’s too strong.” _That’s right Sora. Look at me, look at how strong my heart is. So much stronger than yours._

“Riku…”

Power, dark and enthralling, flowed through Riku. “I’ve picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance.”

A dark version of Sora manifested itself, its image wrought from Riku’s own heart. All Sora could do was stare at it.

 _Watch him revel in your power,_ the voice whispered. _How he fears you._

“You can go see your friends now,” Riku said with a wave of his hand.

Sora disappeared through the trapdoor, and Riku had never felt more alive.

~

 

Kingdom Key was in his hands. It was his, _finally_. The rush of power was _exhilarating_. The voice, the darkness, was pleased. Things were as they should be.

“But that’s impossible.” Sora’s eyes were wide with disbelief. And hurt. “How did this happen? I’m the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!”

Riku took a moment to admire Kingdom Key. The Keyblade that had been promised to him all those years ago. He smirked at Sora. “You were just the delivery boy.”

The hurt, the heartbreak in Sora’s eyes was evident. They were even more so when his new “friends” left Sora to stand at Riku’s side instead.

It was laughable. Sora had replaced him with these two, and in the end, even they had left him.

So much for friends.

~

His outfit had changed. The fog in his mind was all encompassing now. It was so hard to think. To speak. He could hardly tell what words, what thoughts, were his anymore.

He was vaguely aware of Sora, standing there arguing with him while wielding that ridiculous wooden sword. But it was like Riku was no longer in control of his body. He was just a passenger.

“How will you fight without a weapon?” He said, his mouth moving on its own.

“I know now I don’t need the Keyblade. I’ve got a better weapon. My heart.”

The thing controlling his body scoffed. “Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?”

Sora stood tall, his gaze defiant. He pointed the wooden sword at Riku. “I don’t need a weapon. My friends are my power!” 

Riku felt the Kingdom Key leave his hand… only to reappear within Sora’s.

He argued with Sora, something Riku was too lost in the haze to hear, trading blows with him before turning tail and running.

But suddenly Riku wasn’t there anymore. He was surrounded by darkness for what seemed like miles. There was nothing. And no one. “Why?!” He cried. “It was mine!”

The voice that had been whispering to him spoke, suddenly louder than he’d ever heard before. “Know this, the heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade.” A cloaked figure, shrouded in darkness, emerged.

But… that would mean… “What? You’re saying my heart is weaker than his?!” After all of that… after everything he’d done… He was _still_ weaker than Sora.

The figure confirmed his deepest fears. He’d been weaker. He couldn’t stand up to Sora after all. He’d _failed_.

“However,” the figure reassured, stepping closer. “You can become stronger… Plunge yourself deeper into the darkness…”

Riku considered for a moment. 

He’d wanted to be stronger than Sora more than anything. He’d been so afraid of being weak, of being replaced. He’d wanted the three of them to remain the same, but under his own power… he’d failed. Even reaching into the darkness hadn’t been enough to revert things back to the way they were. But if what the figure said was true…

He’d show Sora how strong he was. He’d save Kairi. He’d do whatever it took. He’d prove that he’d been right. That’d been on the right path. He’d finally be strong enough.

He shut his eyes, and allowed the darkness to swallow him completely.

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow's fic will pick up directly where this left off :D
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! As always, if you like what I do, check out my [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/seasaltdreams) and [ Tumblr](http://seasaltandlostdreams.tumblr.com/)!


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